


Sound of Silence

by PhoenixWytch



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: F/M, Gen, Paint It Red Gift Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-05
Updated: 2012-09-05
Packaged: 2017-11-13 05:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/499994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixWytch/pseuds/PhoenixWytch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>20 drabbles all inspired by the prompt 'sound of silence'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tromana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tromana/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** I do not own _The Mentalist_ or any of the characters from _The Mentalist_. If I did own them, Jane would be living with Lisbon and they would be kissing in every episode.

The room’s walls were originally bare white, but are now covered with rambling red and black scribbled words and pictures. Cho sighs when he sees the scrawled lines and the room’s decimated shell of an occupant. He wishes that he could free Patrick Jane from this silent and lonely hell. Instead Cho visits and watches as his friend deteriorates more and more with every passing day. With each day he prays that he will be told that Jane has finally found peace. The peace destroyed when Jane is forced to watch as Red John murders Teresa Lisbon, his new love.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn’t supposed to end this way. It wasn’t. If anyone was going to die it was supposed to be him. She was supposed to survive. She was supposed to go on. Be happy and safe. Not buried six feet beneath the ground. She isn’t supposed to be gone. She’s not. She’s supposed to be here with him. She’s gone and there is nothing left for him here in the world. He wants her back. The silence is too loud without her here to drown it out. He doesn’t know what to do, to cope. He just needs her back.


	3. Chapter 3

It is so strange to see him so silent and still. He should be fixing tea and teasing the team. Not laying here in recovery after a surgery to repair the damage of two gunshot wounds. Gunshot wounds he received because he solved the case. Because he pulled one of his juvenile pranks and the suspect doesn’t appreciate being caught because of a trick. Because _she_ didn’t protect him well enough. Because she gave in to him and let him play his games. Because of her choices, he is now injured and she doesn’t believe she can ever forgive herself.


	4. Chapter 4

The silence that greets their announcement is quite telling. The team leaves the room when they are dismissed, but she knows they will be waiting for her. They will have questions that will hurt, but that she knows they deserve to have answered. This assignment has taken a lot from them, from her. It has cost them a friend and co-worker. A man that had charmed them all over time and that she loves so very deeply. A man that she pushed away, hurt and damn near destroyed. All that is left is his couch and the team she broke.


	5. Chapter 5

She sees him once a month on the one day he is allowed visitors. They never say a word, just sitting and watching each other through the glass. The silence filled with the tension and pain of repeated betrayals. Betrayals that she has not and will not ever forgive him for. She understands that he had vowed to get revenge on his wife and daughter’s murderer. But he had also promised to always be there for her and he breaks it everyday. Because he is stuck in a jumpsuit behind locked doors and she is on the outside looking in.


	6. Chapter 6

There is not much that can break Cho, but this is one of those few things. He stands helplessly outside the washroom listening to the sound of running water that doesn’t fully cover the sound of his friend’s sobs. He wants to rush in and help, but he also knows that there is nothing he could say or do that would fix this. None of the team expected this to happen and so they weren’t prepared. It has cost one of dearly. For now… For now all he can do is wait. Wait and hope that silence will soon come.


	7. Chapter 7

Jane sits and waits. He fidgets and fusses to break up the silence. He knows that he will be waiting a long time after the doctor suggests he leave and rest. Ha cannot do that. He cannot leave her here. So he sits and waits. Fidgets and fusses. He hardly ever speaks, but is never silent. He knows that she will wake and so he waits. He waits and waits, but never lets the silence settle. She hates it when he is silent, says it is a sure sign that he is plotting. So he sits, waits, fidgets and fusses.


	8. Chapter 8

It is so easy, the way they go from colleagues to friends to lovers. Lisbon worries that it is too easy at times, for all that it is meant to be casual. She knows she loves him deeply. She knows that he still wishes for his wife and daughter. He still keeps their memories bright. She wonders if he thinks of her the same, but doesn’t dare ask in fear of the answer. Instead she holds him close when he lets her. And if she offers silent words of love in the dark of night… She never says a word.


	9. Chapter 9

Rigsby is far more observant than many others give him credit for, especially Jane. Rigsby knows he comes across as being blind and slow on the uptake much of the time. The thing is he just knows when to keep quiet on what he sees and hears. It annoys Rigsby sometimes, but mostly he is just tired of being treated like an idiot. After all if Rigsby were more of a blabbermouth everyone would know about the sidelong glances that Jane keeps stealing of Lisbon. Or they would know about Jane’s obsession with Lisbon’s smile and making it appear more.


	10. Chapter 10

There is a betting pool going around about how long until Agent Teresa Lisbon cracks and starts speaking to Consultant Patrick Jane. So far she has not spoken to him for three, almost four days and the rest of the CBI just cannot help but wonder when she will break and say something to him. After all she is the only one that has any chance of controlling him and to do that she has to say something. Add in the fact that Jane’s behavior is getting more and more out of control must mean she will crack soon, right?


	11. Chapter 11

For all that he complained about Jane before he retired, Minelli truly does like the younger man. He sees in Jane a good man that is deeply wounded by the loss of his wife and daughter. Minelli tried to help Jane as much as possible within the confines of the CBI. He assigned Jane to his protégé’s team and watched with great hope as the team flourished. As he continued to watch though, Minelli noticed that Jane started holding Lisbon closer while also pushing her away. It was confusing until he realized that Jane was afraid of falling for her.


	12. Chapter 12

The first night after the capture of Red John for Jane and Lisbon is spent together on the office couch. They talked, laughed, cried and yelled for hours as they held each other close. Their discussion ranges in topic from their lives before Red John, the cases they have worked together and their hopes for the future. There are confessions made, forgiveness sought and acceptance granted on both sides. This night is not meant for silence. Instead it is meant for new beginnings. Starting with Jane finally removing the gold band from his finger and giving Lisbon a first kiss.


	13. Chapter 13

Lisbon makes sure to visit him every chance she gets. She brings him tea fixed just the way he likes and a basket of strawberries or a couple of apples. She tells him about the cases and how a teammate made an observation in his style. She mentions every prank that the team plays on whatever person has been assigned to them for that time and the person’s reactions. She thanks him for teaching them his methods. She lets him know that the team thinks of him often, especially her. She traces his name and wishes that he could respond.


	14. Chapter 14

Lisbon wants to tell Jane about the assignment, but she is under orders to keep silent. She hates seeing Jane bury his hurt every time that she has to rush off and leave him behind. Lisbon knows that he knows that something is wrong and she wonders if he knows any details. Jane never demands an answer, like he would have in the past, though she knows he wants to. Instead he watches over her, bringing her food and drink or dragging her to his couch to sleep. It showcases just how much he’s changed since they stopped Red John.


	15. Chapter 15

Patrick used to hate nights, though he was careful never to let on that he hated them. He used to joke that nights were as quiet as a grave and just as peaceful, that the quiet nights helped him to relax. Truth is that only the quiet as a grave part was correct. Instead of helping him to relax, the nights reminded him of what he had lost and what he could not have. His dark thoughts keeping him awake for days on end. Fortunately those quiet nights are gone. Replaced by nights spent in bed, wrapped up with Teresa.


	16. Chapter 16

Cho notes the time on his watch before he glances around the bullpen. It has been a quiet day so far with he, Rigsby and Van Pelt finishing up their paperwork; Lisbon is in her office working on something and Jane… Well, Jane is the reason Cho looking around the room. It seems that Jane has quietly vanished, which is never a good sign. In fact it is a very bad sign. It means that no one is watching Jane and making sure that he is staying out of trouble. It means that Cho had better find Jane right now.


	17. Chapter 17

It has been five years since the serial killer Red John was captured and killed in attempt to escape from custody. Unfortunately for the CBI and California in general, we also lost a great team in the hunt, capture and subsequent escape attempt of Red John. They gave the ultimate sacrifice for us to be freed Red John and his brand of terror. We shall never forget them. Now let us bow our heads for a minute of silence in remembrance of Agent Teresa Lisbon, Agent Kimball Cho, Agent Wayne Rigsby, Agent Grace Van Pelt and CBI Consultant Patrick Jane.


	18. Chapter 18

Patrick looks around in curiosity as he tries to figure out why Cho, Wayne and Grace are all watching him with mischievous grins. He’s fairly certain that he even heard Grace giggle when she saw him enter the room. Patrick slows as he passes by Cho and Wayne’s desks to see if one of the three cracks and gives him a cue to follow. He notices Grace glance over at his desk as her grin widens a fraction before he sees the lidded box. He opens it to find baby booties, a sonogram image and a note from his Teresa.


	19. Chapter 19

Jane watches, listens and waits for Lisbon to give up on him, on his tricks and his issues. He waits to hear her say that she just cannot take this, take him anymore. He waits to see her walk away from this, from him as fast as possible. He waits and waits, never quite believing that she is never going to give up on him. Jane watches, listens and waits for Lisbon to give up every minute. He keeps waiting as the minutes turn to hours then days… weeks… months… years. He just watches, listens and waits to lose her.


	20. Chapter 20

Lisbon knows that Jane thinks that she will give up on him, that she will leave him. She wants to say she would never, will never do that. The thing is even if she wants to say that, to promise him that, there are no guarantees that she can keep her word. Because… because she might have to leave him. She might be forced to give him up, to leave him. She refuses to make empty promises. Instead she promises him, to the best of her ability, to do her absolute best to stay with him and never leave him.


End file.
